Notre Dame football: Kelly joined by Tim Brown for town hall meeting

SOUTH BEND -- A previous engagement will prevent the most recent of Notre Dame's seven Heisman Trophy winners, Tim Brown, from soaking in and dissecting Saturday's Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium.

Brown will be back in his native Texas, throwing out the first pitch at the Rangers-Mariners baseball game in Arlington on Friday night, but his heart will still be in South Bend, which is where the rest of him was Thursday night.

When asked about his pitching mechanics, Brown claimed his only real baseball experience was in a charity game put on by the NBA's Dallas Mavericks several years ago.

"I was throwing it from right field," the 46-year-old retired wide receiver/kick returner said. "I wasn't throwing it from a pitcher's mound. But I'm going to get it to the plate -- you can bet on that. Now it may be left or right."

It won't, however, be a curveball, he promised. Nor did Brown throw too many of those at Notre Dame fourth-year head coach Brian Kelly on Thursday night at their SiriusXM Town Hall broadcast from Notre Dame Stadium. (There will be a rebroadcast from noon-1 p.m., just prior to the Blue-Gold Game broadcast on SiriusXM Channel 91).

One exception: "Did your face get as red when you played as it gets on the sidelines when you coach?" Brown queried.

Without missing a beat, Kelly responded, without any bluster, "You couldn't see it. I was wearing a facemask."

Most of the questions came from the 15 SiriusXM sweepstakes winners and their 15 respective guests, who were a part of the intimate setting.

Kelly and Brown posed for pictures with each of them before the broadcast. Then Kelly playfully chided the show's producer when he instructed the crowd to clap going in and out of commercial breaks.

"It's kind of like 'The Price Is Right,'" Kelly said with a cackle.

To his relief, Kelly didn't get asked about injuries. He didn't get asked what kind of tree he would be if he actually were a tree. And unlike throughout last offseason, there wasn't a single question from the audience about the quarterbacks.

Among the sampling of questions and answers that did occur:

Kelly was asked about what similarities there might be between coaching a Catholic Youth League game and one at Notre Dame.

"Well, I pray a lot before games," he said.

When asked about the Notre Dame landmarks/experiences that have affected him the most, Kelly chimed in with the drive up Notre Dame Avenue toward the Golden Dome and a chat with Notre Dame president emeritus Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh in the latter's office.

On his strangest pregame rituals? He has none. Kelly said he's too busy talking to recruits before a game.

Number of wins this season? "13."

What he would say to his team if they had to wear the neon green Zubaz uniforms the men's basketball team donned in the Big East Tournament? "If you're going to wear those, you better play really, really good," he said.

Then came the dreaded FieldTurf/JumboTron combo question, the kind that got Kelly in a bit of hot water with his superiors in past years when he answered it from the heart. This time he responded tongue in cheek instead.

"We're going to go with a retractable dome," he said.

Brown took some time to answer some questions too -- before the broadcast. Here are his thoughts on some topics involving his alma mater:

-- On what he expects from the 2013 Irish: "If this is a team that we think they are with the coaching staff we think it is, then I think we're going to play good, consistent football this year. Do we get the lucky bounces we got last year and end up 12-0 again, who knows?

"But I think we could play better football and end up 10-2. So I think from my point of view, I expect to see this team competing every week and not making mistakes that kill themselves. You may go up against a team that's better. And if they beat you, they beat you, but definitely a step back would be to see this team losing games they should have won."

-- On whether the gap between Alabama and Notre Dame currently stands as wide as the 42-14 score in the BCS National Championship Game would indicate: "No, that Notre Dame team was not the Notre Dame team we had seen all year. If that had been the team that had been tackling well and making plays on the offensive side of the ball and got beat like that, yeah, you can say that.

"I think it was a team that depended on their defense to put them in the right position. When that didn't happen against Alabama, because of missed tackles and all that kind of stuff, you knew it was going to be a long night.

"Unfortunately, Notre Dame didn't play its best football, so it's hard to compare that to how great Alabama is. Is Alabama a great team? Absolutely, no doubt about it. That being said, they're beatable like everybody else. I mean they got beat last year, so obviously they are beatable."

-- On Notre Dame's wide receiver corps: "These are a good set of guys. I think TJ Jones can be an explosive player. I think that's what they've been missing at the position for a couple of years -- a guy who can catch a pass and make something happen with it.

"I think this offense is going to open up more, because they are going to trust (quarterback Everett) Golson a little bit more. And that means that these guys are going to have to be able to make some dynamic plays. It can't just be about a first-down catch. Sometimes you've got to make a guy miss and take it all the way."

-- On Golson: "This is a guy who can throw the ball. He seems to be smart and heady enough to play the game and not put your team in a bad position, and tough enough to make plays when he has to. From that standpoint, he has everything you need in a quarterback. He just has to keep maturing and not rest on the success he has had so far.

"If he can keep building, I think he is going to be in great shape."

-- On his lasting impression of 2012 Heisman runner-up Manti Te'o: "My opinion of him has not changed. He's a young kid who got caught in an unfortunate situation, and it is what it is. To me, it has no bearing on what kind of football player he is. And for the next level for him, that's what it's all about -- 'How many tackles can you make, Manti? I don't care what your love life is.'

"I think from that standpoint, the guy was a great, incredible leader for this team and was a guy I believe this whole team played for, for most of the year. And from that standpoint, he did what he was supposed to do.

"It didn't end the way everybody wanted it to end, but certainly, I think when you look at Manti, he's going to go down in Notre Dame history as being if not the best linebacker, then certainly one of the best linebackers."

-- On Brian Kelly: "The sky's the limit. For him, it's really been about being able to recruit and go out and get those dynamic-type players at every position. From what I'm hearing this freshman class is going to be a pretty good class.

"I think if he can keep doing that and bringing in those kinds of players, it makes coaching a little easier."